An Up And Down Season Culminates Sunday

AExtra had the opportunity to travel down to Storrs, Connecticut on Saturday for the practice and press conference day in which all teams in the NCAA Championship participate. All four teams playing on Sunday--UConn, Hartford, Purdue, Kansas State--had the opportunity to take the floor for the final practice before gameday, and the media also had the chance to interview head coaches and players from all four teams.

#16 Hartford will play #1 Connecticut Sunday at noon. Coverage will be live on ESPN2 HD during ESPN's whip around coverage. The full game will be available on ESPN2 standard definition to the state of Connecticut and on ESPN3.com for everybody else.

In the Hartford press conference, you could feel the sense of both relief and excitement up on the dais. Jackie Smith, Ruthanne Doherty and Alex Hall were excited for the chance to play in the tournament, and didn't seem to mind the fact they were just 30 minutes away from campus. Smith had had the chance to go to two prior NCAA Tournaments, traveling to Baton Rouge as a freshman and Durham, N.C. last year as a junior, but there wasn't any sense that this Tournament was any less special for her. In fact, Rizzotti referenced and joked a little about Smith carrying around a video camera documenting the experience.

Coach Rizzotti showed some emotion after the players were dismissed, and it wasn't about stepping into the arena where she played for four years as an All-American as one might have expected. When asked if this was one of her most fulfilling seasons as a coach, Rizzotti's own answer brought her to tears. Before discussing how hard this year's squad has worked to getto where it is, the coach reflected on last year.

"Every season is special and you remember them for different reasons. You have to remember, last year was bittersweet coming to the NCAA Tournament and have Bev (Erica Beverly) not be able to be a part of that and how much that impacted us emotionally. She’s a special kid."

You could tell Rizzotti was really upset that a player she describes as arguably the best to come through the program wasn't able to experience the NCAA Tournament last year as a player. Instead, Beverly was sidelined with an injury sustained in the America East semifinals. Rizzotti then expressed how thrilled she is that this year's senior class is able to experience this year's postseason.

For a full transcript of Saturday's press conference, check them out here. A photo gallery of the press conference and practice are also available courtesy of UConn here.

Hartford Ready for Matchup with Connecticut in NCAA Tournament

With its NCAA Tournament matchup with Connecticut quickly approaching, Hartford head coach Jennifer Rizzotti discusses the improvement of her team throughout the season and what it will be like to return to Gampel Pavilion.

Boston U.-Kansas Game Coverage

Final: A valiant effort from Boston U. comes up short as top-ranked Kansas outscored the Terriers 39-24 after halftime and won, 72-53. Kansas shot a scorching 62 percent after the break (16-for-26) while the Terriers shot just 27 percent (7-for-26). The Morris twins led the way for the Jayhawks as Marcus had 16 points and nine rebounds and brother Markieff had 15 points and eight rebounds. John Holland scored a game-high 19 points for Boston U. and finishes his illustrious career with 2,212 career points.

3:40 Left in 2nd Half: The Jayhawks have finally displayed their offensive firepower and have opened up a 68-45 lead. Kansas is shooting 64 percent this half (14-of-22). Meanwhile the Terriers have gone cold from the field shooting just 20 percent this half (4-for-20).

9:02 Left in 2nd Half: Despite having just two field goals this half, Boston U. trails Kansas by just eight, 49-41, as we near nine minutes left in the game. The Terriers are holding the Jayhawks to 42 percent shooting, 10 percent under their season average.

14:39 Left in 2nd Half: Kansas has opened up its largest lead of the game and is up 41-32 at the under 16 media timeout. Boston U. is shooting just 1-of-7 from the field this half and John Holland has not scored. Plenty of time left to turn it around though.

Halftime: Through 20 minutes of play, the 16th-seeded Terriers have played toe-to-toe with top-ranked Kansas, which leads by only four, 33-29, at the break. John Holland has a game-high 15 points while Marcus Morris leads Kansas with 10 points and seven rebounds. Jeff Pelage has provided defensive spark off the bench for the Terriers with five rebounds and a pair of blocks. The team stats are pretty even too with Boston U. shooting 44 percent and Kansas 41 percent. The Jayhawks hold a slim 19-17 edge on the backboards.

3:49 Left in 1st Half: Holland just drew an offensive foul on Maurice Morris to give Boston U. the ball back. The Terriers are down 25-22 at the last media timeout of the half.

7:43 Left in 1st Half: The Terriers continue to play the Jayhawks even and trail by only two (18-16) at the third media timeout. Boston U. shooting 43 percent to Kansas' 37 percent.

11:27 Left in 1st Half: John Holland has eight of the Terriers' 10 points and they are tied with Kansas, 10-10, at the second media timeout. Kansas, the best shooting team in the country at 52 percent is just 4-of-13 the floor. Boston U. winning the battle of the boards too, 10-7.

Welcome to BOK Arena where Kansas and Boston U. just tipped off. The Terriers are hanging in during the early going and trail 5-2 at the all important first media timeout. With breaks being two minutes and 30 seconds during the tournament, coaches can really use these timeouts to their advantage and rest their stars.

Holland and the Terriers Have Kansas' Respect

John Holland's legacy at Boston University was pretty well cemented even before last week's epic league title game performance against Stony Brook. A four-time all-conference selection who ranks seventh on America East's all-time scoring list with 2,193 career points, Holland added to his lore with one of the best performances in championship game history.

The reigning America East Player of the Year had a double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds and added three steals. He scored 23 of those points after halftime, including 14 straight to bring the Terriers back from 15 points down. Holland capped the performance by hitting two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to give Boston U. its first America East title since 2002.

Now Holland is taking his talents to the NCAA tournament, where he and the Terriers will face top-seeded Kansas in Tulsa on Friday. The Jayhawks are certainly aware of Holland's talents and not taking him lightly.

"I know he's one of the most efficient players in the country," said the Jayhawks' Brady Morningstar yesterday. "He's going to be a tough match up, whoever guards him. I'm impressed with what I've seen from him so far. He looks like he can do it all. It will be exciting to get to guard him."

"He would be a terrific player in our league, without question." added Kansas head coach Bill Self. "To me, he (Holland) is a potential pro. He can do a lot of things. He can post. He can face. He can drive it. He's certainly athletic."

Self also believes the Terriers will be no pushover Friday.

"I look at their team and I was surprised they were on the 16 line to be honest," added Self. "When I was in my mind going through the bracket, I didn't have them as one of the teams on the 16 line."

"Coach (Chambers) has done a good job there in a short amount of time. And their stats defensively are better than ours, and we take quite a bit of pride in that. I think they're hard to score on. I think they mirror Jay Wright's teams a lot, and how they do some things. They're very good at beating you off the bounce. They've got a good team and it's going to be a good challenge for us, no question," Self concluded.

Boston U. has held teams to just 55.8 points per game and 33 percent shooting during its 11-game win streak. The Terriers will need that same defensive performance against Kansas, one of the nation's top offensive teams averaging over 80 points per game, to pull off one of the greatest upsets in NCAA tournament history.

Boston U. held its open practice day and spoke to the media on Thursday at the BOK Center, where it'll face top-seeded Kansas in an NCAA second round matchup tomorrow. The Terriers' mood was light but focused on the task at hand, becoming the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 one.

Find out what Pat Chambers, John Holland, Patrick Hazel and Matt Griffin had to say in the press conference and check out photos from the day. Tomorrow we'll have Kansas head coach Bill Self's thoughts on Holland and live coverage from the BOK Center!

It's Tourney Time

Welcome to Tulsa! This is always one of the most rewarding times of the year for us at the conference us because a season of hard work is capped with a trip to the NCAA tournament and behind the scenes access to one of the greatest sporting events in the world.

Boston University was generous in allowing me to travel on their charter flight yesterday. It will be hard to go back to commercial after that experience. We touched down in Tulsa at 3:30 central time yesterday and after resting last night, the Terriers are ready for practice day. The team will have a full closed practice this morning off site and then have an open practice at 5:50 tonight at the BOK Center, where tomorrow's games will be played.

Open practice day is one of the great things the NCAA does. All eight teams in the regional will practice for a half hour and fans can watch for free. With both Texas and Kansas here, the building should have some life. Coach Chambers and his team will also speak to the media before practice so check back later for their thoughts on Kansas, the NCAA experience, photos from practice and a lot more.

Retrievers Make Second Postseason Appearance

While UMBC fans may still be disappointed that the Retreivers were unable to make a run through the America East tournament, this historic season will continue with a WNIT matchup against Florida. As the winner of its first-ever America East regular-season championship, the Retrievers earned a spot in the WNIT and the chance to make a deep postseason run.

With a matchup against Florida set for Friday night in Gainesville, Fla., the Retrievers will have an opportunity to face their first SEC opponent of the season. The Gators lost in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament and enter the postseason with an 18-14 record. This will be the second meeting between the two programs, with Florida earning the 71-52 win back in 1986.

For those fans that haven't followed UMBC closely this season, the Retrievers are an exciting offensive team led by a trio of juniors. Both Erin Brown (14.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and Michelle Kurowski (14.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg) were selected to the America East All-Conference First-Team, while Tope Obajolu (10.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg) earned a spot on the America East All-Conference Third-Team. While Obajolu doesn't present quite the offensive threat that both Brown and Kurowski do, she is an anchor on the defensive end.

Should the Retrievers secure the victory over Florida, they would advance to play the winner of the matchup between Drexel and Florida Gulf Coast.

Terriers Continue to Thrive Under Chambers

This video features interviews with head coach Pat Chambers and Director of Athletics Mike Lynch as they discuss the evolution of the men's basketball program and what it means to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.

Hitting the Links: Tourney Time!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have made it through the winter months and have emerged at the most wonderful time of the year. It's tourney time!

With the middle of March comes the glory of postseason tournaments. We've got March Madness and the NCAA tournament as well as the NIT. We also have the women's NCAA tournament and WNIT.

In total, four America East teams are playing in postseason tournaments. On the men's side, the action gets going tonight when regular-season champion Vermont heads to Cleveland to take on the Vikings of Cleveland State.
The Catamounts are a No. 7 seed in the NIT.

The other men's team still playing is Boston U. which will be playing against Kansas and history. Since modern seeding began in 1985, no 16 seed has ever beaten a 1 seed in the men's tournament. However, that doesn't mean the Terriers aren't gunning for Kansas.

For the women, UMBC represents America East in the WNIT as the regular-season champion. The Retrievers head to Gainesville to take on Florida.

Finally, the Hartford women, the tournament champion, returns to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. This time, while they won't have far to go to get to their game in Storrs, Conn., the Hawks will have a solid road block in the top team in the country, and Hartford head coach Jenn Rizzotti's alma mater, UConn.

With tonight as the true postseason tip off, let the madness begin!

UNH Wins Third Straight

The University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team extended its winning streak to three games with an impressive 11-8 win over George Mason. The Wildcats are now 4-2 this season and face nationally ranked Vanderbilt on Wednesday:

Hartford draws Connecticut in NCAA Tournament

After an impressive run through the America East women's basketball conference tournament, the Hartford Hawks are set to travel to Storrs, Connecticut to face No.1 seed Connecticut in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. This will be a game with added intrigue, as Hartford head coach Jennifer Rizzotti played at Connecticut under head coach Geno Auriemma. While it will be a difficult task to matchup with the Huskies, this young Hartford team is playing with great energy and confidence heading into the game.

AExtra Survives the Madness

As the final seconds ticked off the clock at Agganis Arena, AExtra knew it was in for a memorable experience. With a spot on the baseline picked out, AExtra was able to watch John Holland step to the free-throw line and hit two clutch free-throws to send Boston University to the NCAA Tournament. What followed in the next 20 minutes was a rare combination of excitement, madness and fear of breaking a digital camera. The atmosphere created by Stony Brook and Boston U. fans throughout the game made the thrilling finish even more remarkable and helped set off a frenzy that AExtra was lucky enough to capture on camera:

UMBC Women's Lacrosse dominates Manhattan to continue strong start

The UMBC women's lacrosse team (5-2) scored 13 goals in the first half and defeated Manhattan (2-3) by a score of 20-6 Sunday afternoon at UMBC Stadium.

Nine Retrievers found the back of the net, led by senior midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake), who scored a game-high six goals. Senior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) led all scorers with seven points on two goals and a career-best five assists, and junior attack Emily Coady (Westminster, Md./Westminster), the America East Player of the Game, tallied a career-high six points on three goals and three assists, all in the first half.

Vermont Faces Cleveland St. in NIT

Although Vermont fans are certainly disappointed the Catamounts won't be playing in the NCAA Tournament, there is still the opportunity to follow UVM in the NIT. Since Vermont won the America East regular-season championship, it was guaranteed a spot in the NIT. With the brackets unveiled less than an hour ago, head coach Mike Lonergan and his team learned that they would be facing Cleveland St. from the Horizon League in the opening round on Tuesday night.

Boston U. draws Kansas in NCAA Tournament

After knocking off Stony Brook in a thrilling America East championship game, the Boston University Terriers knew Selection Sunday would bring a tough matchup. Now that the brackets have been revealed, Terrier fans know that their team will be headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma to face the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks on Friday. AExtra will keep all fans updated with postseason coverage throughout the next week.